Well, what do you think? A new site for a new record….fresh, shiny and still smells of wet paint.

As technology blazed forward I decidedly had not. It was pointed out, more than once, that my good old site didn’t format well to smart phones and tablet screens and was, to put it kindly, a little long in the tooth. So, after eight years of faithful and honourable service, we bid adieu to the old and bonjour to the new.

That said, all the old faves are still here, the notes from the road archives, discography, Nashville news, photos, etc. No doubt some of the furniture will get re-arranged as we go, but for now, check out the new chassis.

About the record, I’m told that it will be available by mid-July and I’ll put out the word right here just as soon as it is. This album was a long time coming in part as I was touring most of last year and put it all on the back burner. The good news is that I did more writing in that time and those tunes are part of Ballads In Otherness. Until it’s officially available for purchase, we’ll tease you with the cover art and a few words from Neil Diamond. Also,you’ll be able to listen to some samples of the new music when you click the “listen” link. Finally, if you engage the “about” link, I’ve written a few words about the making of this music.

There you have it, new music, new website. Come in, make yourself at home and kick the tires.

From his early days as a young session guitarist in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Wrecking Crew mainstay Al Casey to his current role as the "other" guitarist in Mark Knopfler's band, Richard Bennett has built a career that has swung wide through pop, rock, and country music history. He spent most of the 1970s and ’80s playing guitar for Neil Diamond before moving to Nashville and becoming a first-call session guitarist for Rodney Crowell and Emmylou Harris. His guitar work can also be heard on albums by the Bellamy Brothers, Rosanne Cash, Vince Gill, George Jones, Miranda Lambert, George Strait, and Travis Tritt, He’s produced hit records for Steve Earle and Marty Stuart and recorded several albums of instrumental music, the latest of which is Contrary Cocktail. The interview will be illustrated with vintage photos, film footage, and recordings, and Bennett will perform briefly.

Like the builders who'd etch a design, a gracing touch on the uppermost ledges of those first early 20th century skyscrapers, Richard puts something into his work that no one else may be able to extract or identify or even know exists. But something about its being there makes the end product complete, better, best. Yes, Richard Bennett is one lucky son of a gun but a spin of For The Newly Blue is all you'll need to know he's giving as good as he gets.

...it was a hell of a winter. We piled into a drafty, black, 1954 Cadillac convertible, picked up Route 66 and pointed the Caddy west in search of a new life in Phoenix, Arizona...the Valley of the Sun. These eleven postcards are love letters, distant watery images...mirages of the Valley.

"I believe these tracks might reflect the real 'heart and soul' of Richard Bennett. Of course, I think that about everything I hear him play, whether it's jazz, blues, country, pop or rock and roll. And perhaps, as someone once said, he plays that way just because he can!"

"For almost ten years now I've felt very lucky having Richard Bennett as a pal and as a member of the band. His quiet, self-effacing manner hides an encyclopaedic knowledge of all kinds of roots and rock music, from Hillbilly to Hawaiian, played effortlessly on a variety of instruments which appear out of a flight case as big as an Airstream trailer.........May his cracking guitar playing find a place in your life as it has in mine."